Present: R. Osgood, J. Brand, J. Swartz, H. Scott, P. Smith, B. Grey, D. Kaiser, K. Kamp, J. Mohan, J. Mutti, B. Voyles.

The meeting came to order at 4:15 p.m. in the Nollen House Conference Room. The minutes and excerpts of 10/3/01 were approved.

David Clay, Vice President for Business and Treasurer of the College, was invited to Council in order to discuss the budget process.

Discussion of Budget Process

J. Brand noted that the Budget Steering Committee met for the first time at the end of September to discuss broad budget parameters and how to ensure an open and participatory process. Members of the Committee then met with the Support Staff Relations Committee and are meeting with the Student Government Association next week to discuss the broad budget parameters and the overall budget process. Members of the Budget Steering Committee came to the Executive Council meeting to discuss these same issues, as anticipated by the revised budget process.

Budget figures are coming in now from the various units of the College and the Treasurer will work to consolidate them into several large categories. The next Budget Steering Committee meeting will be in November when the unit budgets will have been compiled and will then return back to the Executive Council and other major governing bodies to discuss the big picture.

K. Kamp, referring to a January 16, 2001 memorandum from the President and Treasurer to the Budget Committee of the Board about the 2002 Budget, asked how the eight longer-term budgetary objectives were obtained. David Clay stated that most are influenced by the Board (which is concerned with revenue issues), the President and himself and are focused on the issue of sustainability. B. Grey noted that two of these objectives (meeting student financial need and faculty salaries) come from the faculty. J. Mutti asked whether it is really the intention of the administration to move from 60% base budget reliance on endowment earnings to 50% within the short-term. David Clay responded that current modeling shows this might become a medium-term objective and the timeframe will be affected by things like capital construction commitments, fundraising, and endowment performance. K. Kamp asked about the 2% limit on budget increases. David Clay responded that this is largely a result of trying to move Fund For Excellence items into the base budget. J. Brand noted that the 2% limit is for non-salary items and that, during last year's budget process, they had projected 4.5% increase for next' year's salary pool. (This could change during this year's process.) B. Grey stated that this increase is not competitive in relation to our peer institutions. The Dean noted that our AAUP salary survey for last year has already been submitted and Karen Voss is trying to get comparable data from Carleton, Macalester, and Swarthmore Colleges but that these data are not due until December.

David Clay emphasized that the budget implications of the future cost of utilities and maintenance of new facilities is substantial. B. Voyles stated that while Executive Council has talked about how much these facilities will cost to maintain he does not believe the full faculty or student body understand and that they need to be made aware. The President discussed the broad budget parameters. He stated that the comprehensive fee was significantly raised last year. On the salary side, we need better data, but at this time we have projected 4.5% increase for all salaries, but we are taking a close look at faculty salaries. We had a significant increase in the cost of health insurance last year. Given the current economic situation we projected gifts and grants may be down. We know we are facing an increase in salaries and positions in Alumni and Development. K. Kamp asked about the "Other Funds and Transfers" line in the Current Fund Budget Projections spreadsheet which was circulated to Council with the January 16, 2001 memorandum to the Board Budget Committee. David Clay responded that the "Building Maintenance and Equipment Fund" is a roll-over fund designed to cover large intermittent or unplanned expenditures.

David Clay left the meeting at 4:55 p.m.

President's Remarks

The President noted that he has received a copy of Bruce Voyles' new book in which he has dedicated the book to the donor of his chair which was named for Patricia Armstrong Johnson. He suggested that this is a wonderful way to acknowledge the donor and hopes to see more people doing this.

Dean's Remarks

The Dean noted that the Instructional Support Committee has asked him to inform Council about the revision of the College's website. The goal of the site is to have it act as a report of a database which is both flexible and dynamic. He handed out a flowchart which illustrates the organization of information under the old and new site systems. The new webpage for departments is to provide institutional data like major requirements, course descriptions, lists of faculty, etc. in a consistent manner without the departments' needing to duplicate efforts with the Registrar and Communications and Events Offices. Departments will maintain the rest of the webpage much the same as in the past.

Discussion of Education Department Proposal

Council continued its discussion of the Education Department proposal to replace a departing faculty member outside its normal timeframe for consideration of personnel proposals.

The meeting adjourned at 6:10 p.m.

Secretary
Karen Wiese